He later told authorities that after one fishing excursion that afternoon, he pointed his boat back toward shore and apparently "crossed over another boat's wake." 66-year-old Dziechciowski, he said, was sitting on a tackle box on the boat's front deck and was not wearing his seatbelt.

When the man fell overboard, Kozaczka turned the craft around and tried to pull him back aboard, but had difficulty because "the victim was a larger man."

Other boaters responded to his cries for help and managed to get Dziechciowski back to shore, but despite their lifesaving efforts, he was eventually pronounced dead by paramedics.

The responding sheriff's deputies reported Kozaczka's "eyes to be red, watery and glassy" at the scene, and also smelled alcohol on his breath as he spoke, the criminal complaint says.

Now, he's charged with criminal vehicular homicide, which carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, and a fine of $20,000.